SONGKHLA – Visitors from Malaysia are changing a pattern by increasingly favouring travel to southern Thailand in private vehicles, causing concern to tour guides who fear losing their livelihoods.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is being urged to investigate Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira after he invited former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to participate in a high-level discussion about US tariffs with the government.

Capt Thammanat Prompao, chief adviser to the Klatham Party, says he is confident the coalition government will carry on despite its slim majority, while declaring the party’s goal of winning at least 70 seats in the next election.

Thai police have called for monastic action against senior monks implicated in the “Sika Golf” sex scandal, amid a rise in misconduct cases and apparent attempts to evade investigation.

Three torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago have been added to the Unesco World Heritage List.

Heavy overnight rain has triggered widespread flooding in many northern provinces of Thailand, with Phrae bearing the brunt as runoff swept through communities and farmland in Song district. No injuries or deaths were reported.